CATAGORIES: barack obama,FAILURE TO USE BRAINS,NEWS & BREAKING NEWS & FOLLOW-UP,NEWS TO GET PISSED AT,REASONS TO BUY DUCT TAPE,SMALL CUBICLE INSURANCE COMPANY — FloridaBill @ 10:58 am

The President gave two speeches this week. The one I didn’t watch (at least when it was originally broadcast) was his address to school age kids that was broadcast around the country into elementary, middle and high schools. For some reason, it was not shown at our local High School. However, I found the objections to the speech to be somewhat petty and disengenuous. How can we be offended by the President of the United States telling kids to stay in school and try harder? Honestly, I have no problems with that speech whatsoever. It was very Presidential and I think he had good intentions. I saw no hidden motives or attempts at liberal “indoctrination” at all.

Howsofuckingever, last night’s Health Insurance (let’s be honest and stop calling it “health care” because that is NOT what this is about) speech to an ad hoc joint session of Congress really pissed me off. I am very surprised at the demonizing of the insurance industry as a whole. Insurance Companies do good things when bad things happen, don’t they?

The speech was somewhat rhetorical, with a strange tone and offered NOTHING in the way of a road map to solving the problem.

Now, I work for an insurance company. My father worked for the insurance company and lots of my friends work for insurance companies. We don’t work for health insurance companies (mostly we do specialty lines of coverage and my dad was in the life insurance business), and have to buy health insurance like the rest of you. I am a consumer of health insurance and don’t like the hefty price, but have enjoyed many benefits from having it over the years. I think the bills for my daughter’s birth over 14 years ago were over $35k and we paid a $10 co-pay.

Some of what the President said bothers me a lot:

“we cannot have large businesses and individuals who can afford coverage game the system by avoiding responsibility”…

Who is he talking about? Who exactly is “gaming the system”? Me and my employer can afford it and pay a lot for health insurance. I wanna know how are we gonna pay for this “plan”?? Apparently, we will use the money saved from taking out fraud and abuse of Medicare and other insurance. Give me a break. If we can do that, let’s do it now. It may be needed to save Medicare. Insurance Companies work on combatting fraud and abuse every day. Part of the claims that get denied, are, guess what,…fraudulent. They try not to pay claims that are abusive of the rules of the system. That enures to their benefit as profit and is an attempt at trying to hold down costs.

“The only thing this plan would eliminate is the hundreds of billions of dollars in waste and fraud, as well as unwarranted subsidies in Medicare that go to insurance companies”.

Again, if that is the case, let ‘s pull the trigger on elimination of fraud and waste NOW. The thing about it is that you just can’t legislate that away. Good luck trying. Just waive your magic hand and make it so Mr. President. The subsidies that go to the insurance carriers are reimbursements for what they paid out that Medicare owed. I don’t understand the math here.

“I will make sure that no government bureaucrat or insurance company bureaucrat gets between you and the care that you need.”

Who will administer this plan? Some other kind of bureaucrat I suspect.

“But by avoiding some of the overhead that gets eaten up at private companies by profits and excessive administrative costs and executive salaries, it could provide a good deal for consumers, and would also keep pressure on private insurers to keep their policies affordable and treat their customers better, the same way public colleges and universities provide additional choice and competition to students without in any way inhibiting a vibrant system of private colleges and universities.”

Say what? So we will run this new health insurance like a university? Ever know anyone that got rejected from a college or university? Maybe it will be college and educational bureaucrats who will administer this so called “plan”? Those people are so much better at treating their customers well. Once again, give us a break.

“Now, much of the rest would be paid for with revenues from the very same drug and insurance companies that stand to benefit from tens of millions of new customers. And this reform will charge insurance companies a fee for their most expensive policies, which will encourage them to provide greater value for the money”

Huh? Boy if that isn’t political bureaucratic double-speak, I don’t know what is. How does taxing the fee for the most expensive policy encourage the insurance company to provide greater value? I am nearly certain it would encourage just the opposite.

And then we go and say “the ones who suffer silently” are the ones who have been writing e-mails and need to be heard. Wow. Sounds like something our last President might have been mercilessly chastized for saying.

BTW: Joe Wilson is a Fucktard for heckling the President. That is just bad form. Show a little respect dude. The world is watching.